I have always been a fan of the monarchy. However, I am also conscious of the fact that Malaysia has 9 separate and distinct royal households . All of them perform only ceremonial roles.

No one doubts it is very expensive. Should Malaysia become a republic instead ? Should royal allowances and ceremonial roles be scrutinised and revised to meet today's reality? Is it necessary to mantain the 2 dozen royal palaces in Malaysia ?

This facebook page offers an interesting and independent discussion on the monarchy in Malaysia.

If the majority of people want it, then so be it. For myself, I prefer monarchy rather than republic.

If Malaysia becomes republic, all the royal allowances will be given to the president and each state's governor. Plus, we need more expenses for presidential election. As for the royal palaces, even though Malaysia becomes a republic, all the palaces will still be maintained by government because of their historic and cultural value. In the end, the expenses will be no much different.

The sultanate roles purely on ceremonial. They are the constitutional monarchy and perform certain duties mainly as the head of religion, custom, appointing syaria judge, elected the prime minister or chief minister in their respective states. The country or states are governs by elected representative during election. The sultanate role is non partisan. Just like Thailand and Britain, the role is more or less the same.

The first is to maintain just one Sultan (or Agong) as head of state. This means just one royal family for the whole country. However, it will be difficult to decide which of the 9 royal families should be preserved.

The second option is to elect a President. The royal families can be preserved until the current reigning Sultan dies.

Cost factor

Each Sultan is currently paid a montly allowance of RM52,000. Their wives or consorts are paid RM15,000. Their sons or heirs are paid RM13,000. The cost of maintaining the National Palace alone is RM52 million a year.

Compare this to the average Malaysian household income of only RM2,258 per month. It is expensive for tax payers to pay for 9 sultans and their families, who perform only ceremonial roles.